Assessment 2019-20: Lola and Baymax

Lola, Baymax, and a few of the books we used this school year.

Our cabooses are so much fun!

They certainly keep the rest of us on our toes, and they are classically "the babies of the family," but we just love them so much, and they know it.

At the start of this school year, they were already set with plenty of pre-school skills; however, they were only 4 1/2 each and not ready for a real academic load, so we opted for Jr. Kindergarten by Memoria Press.

We skipped most of the activities as our little guys love tagging along for Academy, which is rich with literature, activities, and discussion, and they are always part of Morning Meeting.

We stuck to recitation, read alouds, phonics, handwriting, and number sense.

I let them take the lead--if they asked, we did school; if they seemed recalcitrant, we didn't.

By the end, when I was using Skittles as a behavioral modification reward for some of the other kids, they got in on the act, and they did not like missing out on a chance to "earn" Skittles. :)

They did a lot of school, and they finished Jr. Kindergarten early enough that I went ahead and purchased the Kindergarten supplies.  We already owned many of the pieces, and I shopped for used deals as much as I could.  We still skipped the "enrichment" aspects of the curriculum, as they continued participating in Academy.


They have worked their way all the way through First Start Reading Book A, part of the way through the Core Skills Phonics K book, through all of Numbers Book 1.  They've also got a good start on Rod and Staff Math Grade 1.   

I borrowed phonics books from the library:  Lola read 1/2 of Teach Your Child to Read 100 Easy Lessons before it had to go back, and Baymax did the first 20+ lessons of Alpha-Phonics.

They were part of our dance troupe until COVID-19 put an end to that group.  Yes, they learned to dance and sing in front of others, but the real reason we participate in this group is serving the elderly and infirm.  Both Lola and Baymax learned to shake hands and thank the nursing home residents for watching their show. 

When their momentum died as summer arrived, I allowed their academic work to stop.  They are participating still with Morning Meeting as well as our Summer State Study.  The rest of the time, they play and play and play and play and play.

As 5 year-olds should do.